


Nothing Happens Just Because

by ComeToMeMusicals



Series: The Opera where it happens [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Friendship, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 12:40:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9549545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComeToMeMusicals/pseuds/ComeToMeMusicals
Summary: Modern!Crossover PotO/Hamilton. Erik and Christine have been married for two years while Eliza and Alexander were married and also had children. A new chapter in Erik and Christine's life will test their confidence as a couple and, luckily, the Hamilton's are there to help them. WARNING: Mature vocabulary.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Okay! Going back to writing in English. It's a whole new experience writing in this language after finishing my studies at the academy and also a new experience with Hamilton. First time writing about this musical!
> 
> Sorry in advance for possible mistakes and shitty writing. I'm better in Spanish, but it's my mother tongue. The important thing is enjoying it!
> 
> IMPORTANT: Belrose in French means "beautiful rose", the reason why I chose it as Erik's chosen surname.
> 
> The strange ship you're about to read was invented by some friends and me through roleplay, it couldn't help adding it.
> 
> The expression "every time a bishop dies" is an expression in Spanish: "cada muerte de obispo", which means that something happens once in a very long time, in regards to the many years bishops and other religious people live.

The test has been laid on the washbasin, awaiting for the result. Christine’s nerves are at the top. Is she? Can it be? Oh, fuck, of course it could be! She’s not sterile! How will Erik take the news? He told her many times that he’s not father material, not at all, although she doubts it: he is the cutest thing on Earth every time they go to the Hamilton’s and he plays with Philip along Alexander while Eliza and she braid Angie’s hair.

 

That’s how she started wanting a baby of her own. She heard many things about women tricking men before sex, and one of them is pricking the condom so it doesn’t work as it should and pregnancy happens anyway.

 

Of course, she has never done that.

 

Instead, she took advantage of one of the very few nights when Erik ended up drunk. She is not used to that sight yet, but if the test is positive, she will never regret that chance.

 

“Christine, are you alright?”, Erik’s voice comes from the bathroom door, and then she realizes the time she has been spending in there.

 

“Yeah, honey!”, she answers standing up quickly and opening the door in less than a second. She finds Erik’s confused and worried face, still wearing his shirt unbuttoned, his tie untied hanging from his neck, and his real hair tousled. The only tidy thing on him are his trousers.

 

“Why are you taking so long?”, he asks. Christine doesn’t really take her time in the morning. She just pees and goes downstairs to make breakfast. She doesn’t blame him for worrying over her being in the bathroom for more than ten minutes. “If you’re still not feeling well, I’ll call Lin and won’t go to the office”.

 

Almost two years ago, being only half a year married, Christine found Erik’s folder with all his drawings, the only proof of his talent as an architect. He knows enough, not that he earned a diploma after years at university; he just gave exams and passed them perfectly. She asked him why he didn’t start his career as such since he hadn’t been very lucky composing. It took long to convince him, but there they are, “Belrose and Associates” is one of the newest companies and facing an uphill climb. They had the Hamilton-Schuyler’s support, and now Alexander is one of the company’s many lawyers. Christine is not involved, neither does Eliza, but their husbands seem to make a good team as well as a good friendship. The young Swedish woman can’t be happier for that.

 

“I’m fine, really. Don’t miss work for me”, she insists. For a moment, her mind wanders, like Little Lotte. If the test is positive, maybe she could tell him at dinner, with wine (being conscious about the fact that she cannot drink alcohol from now on) and a great meal. But seeing that he’s so worried and willing to miss a day of work, why not telling him now? “Actually…”, she says playing with one of her curls, causing in Erik more anxiety. “I think…”

 

“Christine, do not scare me to death”, he warns in a low voice, struggling to keep his position and not walk around.

 

“There’s a pregnancy test on the washbasin”, Christine confesses and Erik feels how the air is out of his lungs. “I might be pregnant…”

 

Erik’s head swirls. Suddenly, the bedroom and Christine are spinning without mercy and he has to sit down before he could even faint. He loses track of time and space. If he’s late for work, he doesn’t realize. Christine is already sitting by his side trying to bring him back to reality. His environment starts to go back in place as soon as Christine’s voice fills his ears.

 

“Erik, angel. Can you hear me?”, she asks, her voice sounding even nearer for Erik.

 

He looks at her, puzzled and doing his best to think straight.

 

“A-A baby?”, he murmurs.

 

“Yeah…”, Christine is happy, of course, it’s what she wants. However, she knew damn well he wasn’t likely to react the same way. That’s why she starts getting nervous. “I know it’s too soon, we’ve been married for two years and a half and the company is still growing, and also we’re living in an apartment where only two people may live in. I know, I know everything  but isn’t that nice? I’ve seen you with Philip and I’m pretty good at entertaining little Angelica…”

 

“Christine”, he calls, putting a hand in the air in order to make her stop. He loves her more than anything, but her rambling does not help at all right now. Even though her attempts to soothe him makes him melt in the inside. “I-I just need to process this”

 

And then Christine feels powerless. She knows in her heart that he will be an amazing father, and that he will crumble if he overthinks and she doesn’t help him. Christine knows all his fears, the best ways to calm him down and also the fact that she is definitely the only one with the great power to control him most of the time. If he tells her to shut up, what does she do?

 

The alarm of her cell phone rings, and that means that her test is ready. Erik watches her from the edge of the bed until she comes back with the test in hand.

 

“… Well, be ready to be called ‘daddy’, because that will be your new nickname in a few months”

 

He could breathe again minutes ago, and now he is doing his best to keep his heartbeats controlled. Erik stands up and closes the short space between them gazing at the test. On one of the edges it has a line and the word ‘negative’ written, and under those, two lines and ‘positive’ written too. References, he guesses, and on the little screen there are two perfect lines drawn. Carefully, he takes it from her hands and places it on the bed, so he can embrace her tightly and hide his face on her neck, exactly under her loosen wild curls.

 

And Christine just _knows_ he’s terrified, that a million things but the office are filling his mind and she only can hug him back, caress his back and whisper sweet words of encouragement.

 

After all, he will definitely need to stay at home today.

 

* * *

 

Once he’s at the office after his shift at the Secretary of the Treasury, he arrives at the office at Belrose and Associates and finds out that Erik is not there. He comes with a certain energy that is recognizable even for the newest employee, and such thing is missing; so does Erik, Alex thinks. That’s why he turns on his laptop and finds him online on Skype. He ends up calling him, as this happens every time a bishop dies.

 

He is quite surprised when he finds Erik wearing just a tee shirt with a mug with coffee on the table. Christine doesn’t seem to be near.

 

“Hey, dude. You look like you have a hangover”, Alex says mocking him.

 

“Save your jokes, Hamilton”, Erik murmurs in a grumpy tone before he sips a bit of his coffee.

 

“An argument with Christine?”

 

“Nah, she’s sleeping”

 

“Christine and sleeping at 12 pm are not concepts that combine”, Hamilton answers intrigued, still examining his friend’s looks while his secretary brings him a cup of coffee too. “What’s the matter? Are her sleeping issues keeping you busy?”, he asks before drinking his infusion.

 

“She’s pregnant”, Erik finally confesses quite pissed off, the word ‘pregnant’ merely escaping from his lips. He still cannot believe it.

 

In seconds, Alexander is lucky enough to spit his coffee brutally at the wall and not at the screen. What? The pairing that seemed to be forever a childless marriage is going to have a baby? His beard is wet with coffee and he is agape.

 

“Oh _fuck_ , now _those_ are big news!”, he says with a bit of encouragement. “Come on, a baby is a great thing!”

 

“Says the man with a perfect face, a house big enough for a hundred children and a certain position in the government”, Erik answers dryly. Lucky enough, the Hamiltons have been warned about those moods by Christine. They both understood, and still do. That’s why Alex, stubborn and patient Alex, is the only _man_ capable of dealing with him while Erik’s wife is not around.

 

“Hey, don’t be so harsh with yourself. The baby will love you anyway, kids are the purest human beings ever, and this company is protected by my father-in-law. You still don’t need his aid because it’s going great!”, Alex tells him wisely at the beginning, and enthusiastic at the end. “What intrigues me is the exact time when you forgot to use the condom. Being you, I hardly doubt you didn’t use it because you didn’t want to”

 

Erik massages his temples with both hands. The flat is quiet since his wife is sleeping and the only one making noise is Alexander. He thinks and keeps thinking. Christine must be between two weeks and a month pregnant, so the last time they had sex mustn’t have been long ago. There was a night he doesn’t fully remember. They had dinner out and bought some wine to take home. From that moment he remembers waking up naked on his bed and hugging Christine from behind. Yeah, that was the last time they…

 

“Oh, _damn_ ”, Erik curses under his breath and Alex lifts his gaze from the papers that he started reading while Erik thought.

 

“So?”, Alexander asks.

 

“How could I remember to use a fucking condom if I was fucking drunk?”, he says looking back at the screen. “Now I remember”

 

“Shit happens, mate”, Hamilton can only answer while he lets the janitor into the office to clean up the recent mess he made with the coffee. “Anyway, Erik. You’re taking this too dramatically. Isn’t Christine happy? She talked a lot about babies with Eliza”

 

“That’s the worst part. She is”, and that’s why Erik feels so guilty his heart aches. She is so happy she could be calling her friends if she wasn’t sleeping. “I’m not completely sure about this, Alex. I’m shitting myself”

 

“All I can say is that what is done, it’s done”, Alex responds with full honesty, his hands in the air. “You should take it easy. This doesn’t happen just because. Listen, I’m not going to bother you anymore. Take care of Chris and I’ll see how things are going over here. Send her my love, she’ll probably tell Betsey later. And congrats! You have no idea what is about to happen”

 

“No. Definitely, I have no idea”, Erik says at last. “But thank you anyway”

 

With that said, they say goodbye to each other and go offline. Erik just pushes the computer away and rests his head on his crossed arms, trying hard not to desperate. Not when Christine is happy and expects him to stay by her side.

 

* * *

 

Finally, it seems like Lafayette decided to settle down. He is going to marry Meg Giry after so many ups and downs. The young ballerina met America’s favourite fighting Frenchman at the Opera Garnier after one of her many performances. He was interested in some of her fellow dancers and had spent nights with some other members of the corps. She knew well the reputation he held behind his charge at International Relations and at first she wasn’t willing to fall with his charms.

 

But she did.

 

These last two years were spent approaching and falling apart in less than a week. Gilbert didn’t show any intentions to start a serious relationship and that contrasted Meg’s life goals. Two stubborn people trying to keep their life that way, but there wasn’t a night they didn’t think about the other one and their lips, their embrace, their smiles and their bodies. Until Meg moved to the United States with her mother before her best friend’s wedding, and just then Lafayette felt what it was to lose someone after being such an idiot. He spent some time dating a woman called Adrienne, who proved to be an amazing one. But Meg Giry was still in his mind, and after talking a lot with Alexander via Skype (and some work done by Christine behind his back thanks to Hamilton), he resolved he was going back to the US once his job was done in France.

 

It took a while to get back what they lost, but here they are, engaged.

 

Meg Giry organized a girls night at her flat after sharing the news with Christine and her new friends, the Schuyler sisters. Angelica and Eliza are bringing beers, Peggy is taking sandwiches with her, Christine, mysteriously, is bringing her only soul and she ordered pizza. Meg prepared the tea table and cleaned the floor so her friends could sit down without covering their clothes with dust. Her childhood best friend asked her to save her a cushion. Frowning while doing it, Meg’s mind worked way too much trying to decipher what Christine was hiding.

 

While she waits for her friends, she leans over the countertop thinking deeply about what she is about to do. She is getting married to Gilbert. Getting married. In other times that would have been seen as a sin. Dancers and actresses were seen as sluts, and now that’s nonsense. She is not rich, neither is her mother. Is marrying a politician seen as a way to gain popularity? She saw it on television with models and actresses. Women marrying rich men just for money. She loves Gil, but how could she prove it to the audience? That’s how politics work: it’s all about image. In a way, she’s scared, but thankfully, her mother is always there to calm her down, even on the phone.

 

Her thoughts fade away at the sound of the anxious knock at the door. Once she opens it she is received with squeaks and shouting and hugs from her friends, who also have the beers and sandwiches on their hands. God, her neighbours will hate her.

 

“Who is getting married?!”, Angelica asks as wild as her soul is.

 

“MEG!”, the rest shout while they get into the house. Covering her mouth not to laugh so loud, Meg closes the door .

 

“Holy crap, you’re insane!”, she exclaims. Her friends approach her and immediately take her left hand, looking at the expensive diamond ring Gilbert gave her.

 

“Oh. My. God. Laffie is truly doing a great job”, Christine comments with a wide smile. She’s completely satisfied. After convincing Meg, she hoped Lafayette could be brave enough to go after her; otherwise, he would have lost such a great woman.

 

“Oh, please. I think Erik is doing a great job too. You’re glowing!”, Meg answered laughing, taking her best friend’s hands and spreading them to take a look at her. Actually, she didn’t truly believe something good was going to result from that marriage, but their life together is only going up and up and Meg is just proud of them. “There’s something strange about you, I can see it”

 

“She looks a bit chubbier, don’t you think? She doesn’t want to tell us!”, Eliza interrupts, although Mrs. Hamilton, mother of four, suspects. But she wants Christine to tell it if there’s something to tell; no pressure.

 

“She’s just getting fat, leave her alone”, Peggy answers grumpily, separating the blonde from the brunette. Christine can’t help laughing loudly and hugging the youngest of the Schuylers after that.

 

“Okay, what if we open these beautiful beers and spend this great girls night?”, Angelica asks lifting up the two beers she carries.

 

Without a word, only laughing, the women occupied their places on the floor. Meg put the open pizza box on the tea table and Peggy prepared a big plate with the sandwiches. Everyone drinks the beers except Christine, who just doesn’t mind drinking orange juice under Angelica, Meg and Peggy’s intrigued stares and Eliza’s understanding look. They chat for a while about their lives, the day Lafayette proposed to Meg and how their day went. Angelica speaks about her tiring move from London to New York, Peggy about how boring her days are until she paints, Eliza about her kids’ anecdotes and Christine about Erik’s success with the company while she takes a long break from the stage.

 

“Wait, what?”, Meg puts her bottle down and stares at her astonished. “You’re taking a break from the stage?”

 

“Hm, yup…”, Christine just answers before sipping another bit from her orange juice and looking away.

 

“That’s not like you”, Angelica adds after she eats a bite of her pizza.

 

“I know, but I don’t have another choice…”

 

“Wait, Erik told you to leave the stage because of the business?”, Peggy suddenly asks.

 

“No, of course not! That’s nonsense”, Christine exclaims, putting down her glass. “He loves watching me on stage and is completely alienated from my career, but that’s not the reason”

 

“Then what is it? Christine, spit it”, Meg presses at last.

 

Of course Christine doesn’t have any reason to hide it from her friends. In fact, she was planning to tell them tonight now that the whole group could finally reunite. She is just causing a bit of intrigue.

 

“Let’s just say…”, her smile is already visible on her face as she plays with her hands. “That someone half-Erik and half-me will join us soon…”

 

Silence.

 

And then, hysterical squeaks are heard all over the apartment. Expressions similar to “Oh my fucking God!”, “Shit, shit, SHIT”, “I can’t believe it!”, “FINALLY!” fill the room and the girls hug Christine one by one. Eliza offers the brunette her pregnancy clothes, Angelica promises tons of stuffed animals, Peggy rolls her eyes because of her sisters’ hype and Meg can’t do anything else but hugging her friend and kissing her cheek.

 

“Will you let her buy the baby something?”, Peggy asks and takes her beer, raising the bottle in the air. “I toast for you, and Erik’s winning sperm”

 

Christine goes bright red while she, Angelica and Meg laugh their lungs out, and Eliza calls her sister’s name indignantly. The Swedish soon-to-be mother wants to tell them about Erik’s reaction, but it is not something so nice to tell; so when asked, she just says he is scared, waking her friends’ compassionate comments. After that, they really toast for Meg’s wedding, Angelica’s new house in New York and Christine’s baby. The rest is completely relatable: four were already drunk by midnight and the pregnant one was as sober as when she arrived.

 

No food remained, neither did beer. Meg wakes up at 4 AM and realizes that Christine is still there, between drunk women and with a husband that is probably paranoid about her whereabouts. Her friend is sleeping peacefully on the couch, so she takes her phone and calls Erik to fetch her and let her have a better sleep at home instead of the blonde's couch. He arrives in less than five minutes and takes his wife bridal-style to the car in order not to wake her up. His face when he found the four of them drunk was illegible but worth a photo, however, Meg was conscious enough to care for Christine.

 

* * *

 

The way back home was safe, not many cars on the street, no pedestrians. New York doesn’t look like New York and that’s kind of a relief to Erik. He just wants to get home and snuggle with his wife at last. He stayed up late working, discussing some work issues with Alexander via Skype (they realized they are two owls) and worrying about Christine, who didn’t text or call to tell him she was leaving Meg’s flat. It was just a dinner, not a party. His fears wiped away once he saw her photo in the phone. It was Meg, but wanting him to fetch Christine so she could rest in a more comfortable place. So he did. He left Alexander talking to no one, took his keys and rushed to take his wife home.

 

He had some time to think about the pregnancy, he wasn’t fool enough to leave that issue forgotten. He just… relaxed and analysed the situation. There are 50% possibilities of having a deformed child, and at the same time of not having it. He has a lot of money saved in a bank, they can just move. He spoke with Alexander about it again, and Hamilton told him his experience. It doesn’t sound that bad, after all. It’s just his twisted mind. And _fuck_ , he loves Christine, every part of her, and he always knew he would love their children. But being a father himself is a prospect he cannot think about. He doesn’t know a shit about that.

 

“Erik, my father abandoned me at ten and my mother died at twelve. I didn’t know either. Those are things you learn once you experience it. That’s the cutest thing about kids, you learn along them”, Alex told him while he was having dinner in front of the computer. “And men tend to gain weight, just saying”

 

But he doesn’t care about gaining fucking weight.

 

Luckily, he had to take Christine home, so he focused on driving there and back home. Right now, at home, he takes her to their room and for a moment he thinks he could put her in bed without waking her up, but her drowsy voice is heard.

 

“Erik?”

 

“Sh, you’re home”, he whispers on her hair while he accommodates her on the bed. “Meg called me, go back to sleep”

 

But she keeps talking, her eyelids are heavy; still, she tries to open her eyes and with a short blurry sight she finds his exhausted expression. “Are you alright?”

 

“Just tired”

 

Christine has a particularity that all human beings have. Once she wakes up, her mind automatically starts working, and now that she is not with her friends, she can freely worry about Erik’s worry in regards to the baby.

 

“Erik…”, she calls him lazily, trying to be fully awake to talk to him.

 

“Christine, it’s four in the morning. You must sleep”

 

“Erik…”

 

He sighs. He doesn’t want to deal with her at this hour, just sleep and forget for some precious time. “Christine…”

 

Suddenly, both of their voices were cut off. Christine wakes up completely thanks to a wave of nausea and runs to the bathroom. Erik sighs and follows her, kneeling behind her to hold her hair. She vomits and when she’s done she sits on the floor, resting her head on one of her own hands until the dizziness is over. He lets her hair go and sits in front of her, combing a few of her curls with his hands. The two of them remain silent, but staring at each other. They both want to talk, and yet want to delay that as much as possible. She doesn’t want to disturb him and he just doesn’t want to talk.

 

“Erik…”

 

He sighs again, trying hard not to get pissed off. “… What?”

 

She doesn’t save her words. “You’re not happy, are you?”

 

 _Hell_ , she makes this even more difficult than what it is to him. He was already taking it easy and she comes and says that. How should he answer? He… He’s not happy, but he isn’t angry either. He is just… He doesn’t even know how he feels.

 

And to Christine, Erik thinks it is more complicated than what it is. It’s funny because he’s not even the one that is pregnant. He felt almost the same way when they were about to get married; he thought he wasn’t enough compared to her childhood/high school/university sweetheart, Raoul, who she broke up with months after starting university. She couldn’t forget him until she met Erik at the first theatre she went for an audition. They know everything about each other, and consequently she is well aware of Erik’s first struggles in life, right when he was only a child. Those same traumas were carried until now, forbidding him of enjoying the good moments of life. If he could see the world he lives in nowadays, with a loving wife, friends and a child on the way…

 

She finally gets up, gargles on the washbasin with warm water, and goes back to the bed, Erik always behind her. At this moment she is wide awake, sitting on the bed with her back against the headboard, and watching Erik put on his pyjama. She plays with her fingers, and he already detected her eyes on him. She can’t hold it back, she needs to talk to him about this.

 

“Erik, we need to talk”

 

His stares at the wall once he straightens up. He closes his eyes and inhales deeply.

 

“About what? It’s almost five in the morning”

 

“You know about what”, Christine answers as quietly as she can.

 

“Christine, I’m tired”, he simply answers, avoiding the conversation, not like a boss, but the best way possible.

 

“Tomorrow you also will be tired, and the next day and the next”, she spits, losing quickly her temper. Maybe it’s because of hormones, or because she’s disappointed, or everything altogether.

 

“Christine”

 

“You’re not capable of looking around”

 

“I am”

 

“Then?”

 

“I don’t want to talk!”, he suddenly says elevating his voice a bit.

 

“Guess what! I do!”, Christine answers with the same tone. “What is wrong with you? No, really, what’s the matter? When did you decide not to tell me anything about how you feel? You are scared, I get it. But two days ago you hugged me and since then you are silent and behaving like a plant if it’s not related to work. Something’s troubling you and you don’t want to tell me”

 

“This whole thing is troubling me, Christine!”, he finally exclaims. The air is becoming tense and grenades are about to explode. “Being a father is troubling me!”

 

“Why?”, she asks getting up again and approaching him, ready to confront him. “You are good with kids! Philip always says you’re 'lots of fun' every time we go”

 

“It’s not the same. Philip is not my son. I don’t have to deal with him every day, I didn’t have to change his diapers and teach him the basics of life like walking, talking and using the fucking toilet! I won’t have to deal with his emotional issues when he becomes an teenager! I can’t do none of that, Christine! I’m trying to take it easy, but if you keep pressuring me, I’ll never get used to it!”

 

Christine stands still, suddenly feeling how her heart starts aching. “Now I’m pressuring you?”

 

Erik realizes what he just said and takes her hands quickly. “No, you aren’t”

 

“Let me go”, she mumbles taking her hands out of his and goes to the wardrobe. She takes out a bag and puts some clothes inside.

 

“Christine, what are you doing?”

 

“I’ll not pressure you anymore”, she just says pushing the clothes inside, not even bothering in accommodating then properly. “I’ll go with the Hamiltons until you put your shit together”, she takes her phone and gets out of the room, walking directly towards the door.

 

“Christine, do you even hear what you’re saying?”, no, he’s ruining everything! He follows her in an attempt to catch her arm, but she’s too determined.

 

“Yes”, she says dryly, turning on her heels suddenly to face him. “I choose our family, but it’s clear that you don’t because you don’t even want to talk to me! And forget about a fucking abortion if that’s what you dare to think”. She takes her coat and leaves the flat, even in her pyjama.

 

He calls her name, he tries to catch her, he doesn’t give a fuck if he’s in his pyjama, he wants her back in the apartment. However, she insists, she gets out of the building and calls the first free taxi she sees.

 

“Christine, go back inside!”

 

“Fuck you!”, she shouts, getting into the car. He can’t even stop the car because it leaves as soon as Christine closes the door.

 

_Fuck_

 

* * *

 

Her eyes are filled with tears but she doesn’t dare letting them spill. She just looks at the world outside the window while the taxi is moving. Every traffic light is a chance for her to pay the driver, get out, go back and apologize to Erik.

 

But she is so stubborn that she won’t. She prefers war to lose the chance to raise her own child.

 

The taxi finally arrives at the house, which one of its windows has the lights on. She pays the driver and gets out carrying the bag in her hand. She climbs the four stairs to the door and knocks it softly, hearing the car leaving. The door opens a few minutes later, surprisingly being Philip the one behind it.

 

“Aunt Christine?”

 

“Hey, sorry, did I wake you up?”, she asks in her soft and caring voice.

 

“No, I went downstairs to drink some milk. What are you doing here?”, Philip glances down at the bag and frowns. He doesn’t get yet what could happen between couples, and no one could blame him: his parents are a really strong couple.

 

“Did you mother arrive?”

 

“Philip, who is it?”, Alexander’s voice comes from several feet away, and when he approaches, he stops dead. “Christine?”, Christine inhales sharply, not saying a word. Alexander stares at her whole body, noticing the bag in hand, and runs a hand through his hair. “Oh shit. Erik?”

 

“Until he puts his shit together”, she won’t cry, she’s stronger than that. But tears are being so tempting it’s becoming more difficult to swallow the knot in her throat.

 

“He’ll kill me”, he whispers to himself. But he can’t leave the poor woman there. What would Eliza think? And it’s too late to call for a taxi. It’s Christine, he just can’t, and… and she’s in her pyjama! “Come, we have a guest room. Philip, close the door immediately”

 

* * *

 

By the time Eliza arrives, the house is silent. Her head is spinning, the hangover is making its effect, but she has to make it to the bed. However, something feels different in the house and she can’t detect it. Cautiously, she goes upstairs and gets into her room. The sun is rising and a few rays cross the curtains, Alexander is sleeping deeply on his belly, snoring, and his hair spread behind him. She drowns at the sight before putting on her pyjama. As soon as she hits the bed, she falls asleep.

 

When she wakes up, Alex is standing next to the bed carrying a tray with breakfast. She smiles drowsily and sits on the bed, not even caring about her messy hair.

 

“Hey…”, she greets him.

 

“Morning, you naughty girl”, Alex says sitting beside her on the bed and leaving the tray before her. He’s so attentive: there’s a cup of coffee, two toasts with jam, a glass of water and an aspirin. “I guess you have a terrible hangover. How was it?”

 

“Yeah… I have it”, she assures. When she takes her cup of coffee, she looks at him with a smile. “The girls are crazy, you know”, she sips her coffee and remembers the great news, making her smile grow wider. “Did you know? Christine is pregnant”

 

Christine.

 

_Christine._

Alex forces a smile, nodding simply. He has just remembered what happened last night. When he turned on his phone, there were like a hundred lost calls from Erik. He didn’t call since then, and Alexander didn’t dare to call back. He has to tell him Christine is there, Erik must certainly be biting his nails and then his fingers, his hands and then his arms; if he finds out in another way, Alex will be damned.

 

“Yeah… Erik told me…”, he finally answers, looking down at his hands. “Hey, Betsey… What if I tell you that Christine is here?”

 

Eliza chokes with a bite of her toast, starting to cough deliberately. Alexander helps her patting her back, and when she’s able to speak again, she looks at him horrified. “At this hour?”

 

Alex tells her what happened the other night, and adds the lost calls from Erik. Eliza doesn’t let herself finish her breakfast (but thanks him with a kiss on his cheek), she takes the aspirin and rushes to the guest room, not coming back for several minutes, almost an hour. Alex takes the tray back to the kitchen, the house is almost empty due to the kids’ absence. He washes the dishes, trying to keep himself occupied, until Eliza’s back, leaning against the countertop running a hand through her forehead.

 

“This is not good”, Eliza murmurs to Alex as he finishes his task. “This is terribly bad”

 

“What are we going to do?”

 

“You are not doing anything”, she decides putting her hands in the air. “I’m calling Erik and reuniting them here. They were both wrong”

 

* * *

 

There is no deal. Erik wants to speak to Christine at home and privately, which Eliza doesn’t condemn. The problem: Christine. She doesn’t want to get out of the room, not even to talk to him. Eliza tries to convince her, Alex promises her gifts, Angelica tries to reason and Meg encourages her like Eliza. But there’s no result, “until he puts his shit together”

 

The days go by and everything seems normal at the office, despite Erik’s constant bad mood. That week, all the employees do more work than the usual, nobody speaks, they look like machines typing, revising, making phone calls, no one drinks coffee or water. Alexander stays at his office, working on contracts and all the legal stuff as the lawyer he is. He is so focused that if there’s a change in the place, it goes unnoticed.

 

One day, Alex jumps at the photo of his wife on the screen of the phone. She doesn’t usually call him, as she works and takes care of the children. Blinking many times, he takes the phone and answers.

 

“Betsey?”

 

“Alexander, did you get my father’s call?”, she doesn’t even greet him. It seems urgent.

 

“I think I missed it”, he answers. “What’s wrong?”

 

“He tried to call Erik to talk about some new clients and he couldn’t find him”

 

Well, to Alexander that’s not surprising. Bosses are not always there. “So? Maybe he missed work today”

 

“Alexander”, she insists with growing worry.

 

“What?”

 

“He called like twenty times in the whole week. Erik didn’t answer”

 

For a moment, Alexander froze.

 

“Does Christine know?”

 

“Are you kidding me? You want Christine to lose the baby because of stress?”

 

Hamilton doesn’t answer anymore, Eliza kept trying to call his name, but it’s useless. Alexander rushes out from the office after seeing that Erik’s office’s lights are off. He misses the elevator, so he runs down all the stairs until he arrives at the parking lot. He gets into his car and drives madly towards Erik and Christine’s building.

 

This couldn’t have gone so far. So terribly. There’s a baby on the way. He can’t just let it be half-an orphan. Maybe he is overreacting but judging at the way technology improves, it’s impossible not to find someone through a phone call. He is an excellent citizen and respects all the rules, but now he’s calling Erik while driving.

 

He doesn’t answer.

 

“Erik Belrose, for fuck’s sake, where the hell are you?!”, he shouts at the voice mail. The only person that crosses his mind is Christine. She’s at their house, not knowing about the whole mess. He throws the phone in the car and stops abruptly at the building, then gets into it and asks the building keeper for his copy of the key of the apartment 86 with such urgency he doesn’t need to convince the man.

 

He climbs up the stairs and miraculously makes it to Erik and Christine’s floor. Panting, he knocks wildly at the door.

 

“Erik! Erik, open the door!”

 

Poor fool, he forgot about the key.

 

Alexander opens the door and rushes into the flat.

 

There he is, lying on the floor between empty bottles of beer. Cursing under his breath, Alex approaches him and tries to wake him up. He kicks the bottles and looks for a glass of water. Then, he throws the water at his face, waking him up in a second.

 

“Shit…”, Erik mumbles rubbing his eyes.

 

“You must be out of your _goddamn mind_!”, Alexander shouts before putting the glass on the tea table. “Who are you to worry us all that way?! If Eliza’s father didn’t tell her that he couldn’t find you, you’d be probably in an alcoholic coma!”

 

Erik doesn’t answer, he just tries to sit straight. His head spins and pounds. The battery of his phone is discharged, Alexander could tell by the way it turns on and automatically turns off. He’s mad at Erik. Completely.

 

“Your wife is pregnant and you disappear like this?!”, he insists and takes him by his shirt. _Holy shit_ , he mustn’t have showered in days. His shirt is dirty and he grew a stubble, he doesn’t even grow a beard! And his mask, of course, is not covering that cursed side of his face.

 

“Christine wouldn’t care”, Erik murmurs without looking at his friend.

 

He’s resigned, and Alex knows well about that. He thinks he fucked up and maybe he didn’t, but he has just done by drinking until going unconscious and disappearing from the world. Alexander doesn’t answer, he just looks at him stunned. Of all people, he never imagined Erik could reach such state.

 

Suddenly, female voices are heard from the hall.

 

“Erik!”

 

Christine.

 

Alex turns to see her crossing the open door, panicked. She approaches him and the man from the Caribbean withdraws, going directly to Eliza, who watches from the door. She closes it not to put on a show and looks at her husband.

 

“Christine found out thanks to my silence. I couldn’t hide it from her anymore and came here. I had to follow her. Who knows what could’ve happened?”

 

“I know”, Alex answers.

 

Christine takes Erik’s face between her hands and tries to find his gaze so he can look at her. “Erik, please. _Please_. Talk to me”

 

“Christine…”, he mumbles, denying the idea of her eyes on him, so unnecessarily worried and distressed.

 

Impulsively, she lowers his head to her chest and caresses his deformed cheek, leaving butterfly kisses on his hair. “Sh, I know, I know”

 

“I’ll be a horrible father”, his voice cracks and his lips tremble. Erik hugs her carefully and also weakly because of his current state. Christine can already feel her shirt soaked with tears.

 

“No, you won’t”, she whispers, starting to cry with him. “You’ll be a wonderful father, I trust you”, she adds in a weak voice. “I… trust you…”

 

Alexander breathes hard, and in an instinctive impulse, he turns to look at Eliza, who couldn’t control her own tears but is covering her mouth in order not to sob. He approaches her and hugs her tenderly.

 

“I remember you were in a similar situation”, she whispers trying to be strong enough.

 

“Well, I didn’t show it that much, but I did it in my way”, he answers.

 

Slowly, Erik lifts his head to see his wife, and feels a sudden wave of guilt when he sees her tears. “God, forgive me”, he whispers, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. “I’m sorry, Christine. Please, don’t cry”

 

Christine attempts to say something, but when she is about to say it, she finally breaks. “You forgive _me_ ”, she covers her face with both of her hands and sobs heavily. “I shouldn’t have left, I’ve been so harsh to you, I’m sorry”

 

Finally, he hugs her. She’s not guilty for the sudden display of moods, but they just need to get used to what’s going to happen.

 

The scene is deplorable, however, it may be what was needed to happen to make the storm stop.

 

The Hamiltons stand there, staring without saying a word. Once the living-room is quiet, Eliza dares to speak. “Christine, do you want me to bring your things?”

 

Christine nods, but Erik, with his hoarse voice, asks her. “Why don’t you go with them while I clean this mess?”

 

“Are you sure?”, she asks then.

 

“Absolutely”, he answers leaving a kiss on her hair and encouraging her to get up. Then he looks at Eliza. “I’ll take some days off, but tell your father to send me an e-mail about what he wanted to tell me”

 

“Okay”, Eliza takes Christine with her while Alex opens the door.

 

The three of them leave, Christine watching him over her shoulder, until they disappear. Erik lets himself fall on the couch rubbing his forehead. How could he be such a jerk? Christine always lets him confide in her and that’s how he repays her. Before he could have another emotional breakdown, he gets up, grabs a garbage bag and starts putting the empty bottles in it so he can leave it aside and clean up the rest of the mess… And also have a shower.

 

Well, maybe this is the last time he collects bottles to throw them to the bin. The next time he will be collecting toys in order to leave them in a box, and surprisingly, the very idea makes him smile dumbly.


End file.
